Will Canada be trapped inside Fortress North America?

Thought the debate about Canada joining the U.S. Star Wars missile defence shield was over? Maybe not. The latest round of Canada-U.S. border security talks could result in Canada joining "Star Wars," and a lot more.

"We intend to pursue a perimeter approach to security," said the joint statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama in Washington this month.

The statement was light on details, but Canadians should be concerned that political and military leaders involved in border security talks are also discussing a massive expansion of North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) -- the joint U.S.-Canada military aerospace command for North America.

The security perimeter talks, purportedly aimed at easing border trade, might leave Canada sacrificing its ability to have an independent security policy and trapped inside a U.S.-dominated "Fortress North America."

SNIP

Retired lieutenant-general George Macdonald, former Canadian head of NORAD and an early advocate of joining "Star Wars," appeared in newspapers recently calling for expanding NORAD to include land and sea defence. Incidentally, he is also a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin, the U.S.-based manufacturer of the F-35 stealth fighter.

Canadians weren't convinced that Canada should join missile defence, and they were right. They are just as sceptical about the F-35 stealth fighters. The government needs to come clean with what it is planning for NORAD.

http://rabble.ca/news/2011/03/will-canada-be-trapped-inside-fortress-north-america

The killing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent two weeks ago in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi by members of the Zetas drug cartel highlights the importance of Mexico’s new role as leader of Ameripol, a regional police force that was formed in Colombia in 2007 to support national efforts to combat transnational criminal networks in the hemisphere.

The United States became a full member last year, and Ameripol now has 21 member states and 13 observers. Canada sits in the observer group. As a good hemispheric neighbour and, even more important, as the special partner to the United States that Canada aims to be – given the Harper government’s move to a continental security perimeter as part of new border agreements with Washington – Ottawa must rise from observer to member status in Ameripol as quickly as possible.

Organized crime destabilizes social, economic, cultural and political activities and threatens commercial relations. Not only are Canadians vulnerable to the activities of transnational criminal networks operating throughout the hemisphere, but Canadian business interests in the region are directly affected by the threats and uncertainties posed by such crime. Canadian investment in Mexico and Latin America are substantial and growing. More than 2,000 Canadian companies operate in Mexico alone. Trade agreements with Chile, Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia, combined with impressive economic growth trajectories in these countries, mean that security in the Americas matters deeply to Canada, for economic as well as for social and humanitarian reasons.

The RCMP is one of the 13 observer police organizations in Ameripol, keeping company with, among others, Germany’s national police force, Italy’s Carabinieri, Spain’s Civil Guard and Europol. As hemispheric neighbours with a rich multilateralist history, we should be embarrassed that we’re not a full member of this regional organization.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/get-off-the-sidelines-canada-join-ameripol/article1924221/